Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and the administrative centre of
Wrexham County Borough in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. It is located between the
Welsh mountains and the lower
Dee Valley, near
the border with
Cheshire in England. Historically in the county of
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
, and later the county of
Clwyd in 1974, it has been the principal settlement of Wrexham County Borough since 1996.
Wrexham has historically been one of the primary settlements of Wales.
At the
2011 Census, it had an urban population of 61,603
as part of the wider
Wrexham built-up area which made it
Wales's fourth largest urban conurbation and the largest in
north Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
. The city comprises the local government communities of
Acton,
Caia Park
Caia Park () is a suburb and community in Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Created in 1985 after a boundary commission review of the four community areas within the city, of which, Caia Park occupies its east, with the others being Acton, ...
,
Offa and
Rhosddu
Rhosddu () is a suburb and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, covering the north-western parts of the city of Wrexham and comprises the wards of Grosvenor, Garden Village and Stansty.
At the 2011 Census, the population of the communit ...
. Wrexham's built-up area extends further into villages like
Bradley
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
,
Brymbo,
Brynteg,
Gwersyllt,
New Broughton,
Pentre Broughton
Pentre Broughton is a formerly industrial village in the community of Broughton in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is contiguous with the neighbouring villages of Moss and Brynteg.
The village's name is derived from the Welsh word ''pentre' ...
and
Rhostyllen
Rhostyllen () is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south-west of the city of Wrexham. At the time of the 2001 census, area Wrexham 014A, which includes Rhostyllen itself, had a population of 1,383 in 599 households. .
Wrexham was likely founded prior to the 11th century and developed in the Middle Ages as a regional centre for trade and administration.
The city became the most populous settlement in Wales in the 17th century
and was at the forefront of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
from the 18th century. Prior to de-industrialisation in the 20th century, the city and surrounding area were a hub of coal and lead mining; the production of iron, steel and leather; and brewing.
Today, Wrexham continues to serve north Wales and the
Welsh borderlands as a centre for manufacturing, retail, education and administration. The city is noted for hosting
Wrexham A.F.C. (one of the oldest professional football teams in the world); the nationally significant industrial heritage of the
Clywedog Valley; the National Trust Property of
Erddig; and the fine Tudor church of
St Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
, which towers over the historic
Wrexham city centre.
History
Early history
Human activity in the Wrexham area dates back to the
Mesolithic period (8000 to 4300 BC), with tools made from flint being found to the east of the city.
Two
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
burial mounds are located to the west of the modern city centre
and there is evidence that the area had developed into a centre for an innovative metalworking industry by the early Middle Bronze Age. A series of
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hill-forts are located to the west of present-day Wrexham along the upland-lowland line suggesting the presence of an ancient tribal boundary.
At the time of the
Roman conquest of Britain, the area which Wrexham formed part of was held by a tribe called the
Cornovii. A Roman civilian settlement was located in the
Plas Coch
Plas Coch is an area of the community of Rhosddu, in the city of Wrexham, Wales. A major retail and educational area of Wrexham, it lies to the north-west of Wrexham city centre. Formerly known as Lower Stansty, the term has fallen out of use in ...
area of Wrexham and excavations have revealed evidence of agriculture and trade with the wider Roman world. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain, Wrexham formed part of the
Romano-British
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...
Kingdom of
Powys
Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain.
Geog ...
.
Medieval
![wrecsam kingsmill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Wrecsam_kingsmill.jpg)
The
Battle of Chester
The Battle of Chester (Old Welsh: ''Guaith Caer Legion''; Welsh: ''Brwydr Caer'') was a major victory for the Anglo-Saxons over the native Britons near the city of Chester, England in the early 7th century. Æthelfrith of Northumbria annihilated ...
circa 615/616 marked the beginning of a long struggle between the Welsh and English for territory in this part of Wales. During the eighth century, the Anglo-Saxon royal house of
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era= Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ...
pushed their frontiers westwards and established the earth boundaries of
Wat's Dyke
Wat's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Wat) is a linear earthwork running through the northern Welsh Marches from Basingwerk Abbey on the River Dee estuary, passing east of Oswestry and on to Maesbury in Shropshire, England. It runs generally parallel to ...
and
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to ha ...
to the west of the present city.
During this first period of Mercian advance in the eighth century, the settlement of Wrexham was likely founded on the flat ground above the meadows of the
River Gwenfro
The River Gwenfro ( cy, Afon Gwenfro) is a small river in Wrexham County Borough, north Wales. It is a tributary of the Clywedog.''Rand McNally encyclopedia of world rivers'', 1980, p.167 The name Gwenfro is possibly derived from the Welsh lang ...
.
The name Wrexham probably comes from the old English for Wryhtel's river meadow.
Alternatively, the name may have described a settlement of the
Wreocensæte people, who were possibly a continuation of the Cornovii tribe of Roman Britain. The settlement may have originally been named 'Caer Fantell' in Welsh but by the 13th century was recorded in Welsh as 'Gwrexham' or 'Gregsam'.
The Mercians fought over north-east Wales during the eighth to tenth centuries but the Welsh Kings of Powys re-conquered the Wrexham area during the 11th century. Following the Welsh reconquest, Wrexham formed an integral part of the Powys lordship of
Maelor
The Maelor is an area of north-east Wales along the border with England. It is now entirely part of Wrexham County Borough.
The name ''Maelor'' is an old Welsh word: it can be translated as "land of the prince", from ''mael'' ("prince") and ''l ...
and so does not appear in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
of 1086. The first recorded reference to the town in 1161 is to a castle at 'Wristlesham'.
Stability under the princes of
Powys Fadog
Powys Fadog (English: ''Lower Powys'' or ''Madog's Powys'') was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys, which split in two following the death of Madog ap Maredudd in 1160. The realm was divided under Welsh law, with Madog's ...
enabled Wrexham to develop as a trading town and administrative centre of one of the two
commote
A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...
s making up the Lordship. In 1202,
Madoc ap Gruffydd Maelor, Lord of
Dinas Brân, granted some of his demesne lands in 'Wrechcessham' to the abbey of
Valle Crucis and in 1220 the earliest reference to a church in Wrexham is made.
Following the
loss of Welsh independence and the death in battle of Prince
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...
in 1282, Wrexham became part of the semi-independent
Marcher lordship of Bromfield and Yale.
Wrexham increased in importance throughout the Middle Ages as the lordship's administrative centre, and the then town's position made it a suitable centre for the exchange of the produce of the Dee valley and Denbighshire uplands, whilst iron and lead were also mined locally.
From 1327 onwards, the town is referred to as a ''villa mercatoria'' (market town) and became a celebrated centre for Welsh craftsmen. The town was particularly well known in the 14th and 15th centuries for the manufacture of Welsh
buckler
A buckler (French ''bouclier'' 'shield', from Old French ''bocle, boucle'' 'boss') is a small shield, up to 45 cm (up to 18 in) in diameter, gripped in the fist with a central handle behind the boss. While being used in Europe since ant ...
s, as illustrated by the mention in the 1547 Inventory of King Henry VIII of 'wreckesham Buckelers'. In 1391 Wrexham was wealthy enough for a bard, jester, juggler, dancer and goldsmith to earn their living there.
The traditional pattern of Welsh life –
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, administration, customs and
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
– remained undisturbed through the Middle Ages and the pattern was for local
English people
The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...
to rapidly
adopt the Welsh-language and to be
assimilated into
Welsh culture, even to point of adopting Welsh
Patronymic surnames.
The local
Welsh nobility and peasantry backed
the uprising led by
Owain Glyndŵr against King
Henry IV of England during the early 15th century. Local poet
Guto'r Glyn (c. 1412 – c. 1493) heralded Siôn ap Madog, the great-nephew of Owain Glyndŵr, as '
''Alecsander i Wrecsam''
' ("an
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
for Wrexham") and the poet
Hywel Dafi addresses Siôn's heir as '
''Gwregys am ais Gwregsam wyt ('a girdle around the heart of Wrexham.’).
Early Modern
The
Acts of Union passed during the reign of Henry VIII brought the lordship into the full system of English administration and law. It became part of the new shire of
Denbighshire
Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
in 1536.
In 1584
St Richard Gwyn, a local
Recusant
Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
, schoolteacher, and poet in the Welsh-language, was convicted of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
based on his Catholic beliefs by a panel of judges headed by the
Chief Justice of
Chester,
Sir George Bromley. On 15 October 1584, Gwyn was taken to the Beast Market and
hung, drawn and quartered for his faith. He was
canonised
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
by
Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His Feast Day is 17 October.
![Richard Gwyn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Richard_Gwyn.jpg)
The main body of the church of St Giles was rebuilt in the late 15th and early 16th centuries
to become one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical architecture in Wales.
The economic character remained predominantly as an agricultural market town into the 17th century but there were workshops of weavers, smiths, nailers as well as dye houses. The 1620 Norden's jury of survey of Wrexham Regis stated that four-fifths of the land-holding classes of Wrexham bore Welsh names and every field except one within the manor bore a Welsh or semi-Welsh name.
A grammar school was established in 1603 by Alderman Valentine Broughton of Chester.
During the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, most of the local Welsh gentry supported
King Charles I and in 1642 the King addressed enthusiastic crowds in the town.
However, local landlord Sir Thomas Myddelton declared for the
Rump Parliament and Parliamentarians occupied the town in 1643 and 1645. Wrexham served as military headquarters for both forces
and a quarter of houses were burned down in 1643 during the quartering of troops in the town.
In the 17th century, Wrexham served as an educational and cultural focal point for local society and became a 'Puritan Metropolis'.
Morgan Llwyd, the radical
nonconformist preacher and writer, was educated at the Wrexham Grammar School and became Vicar of Wrexham in 1645.
Late Modern
Wrexham was known for its leather industry and by the 18th century there were a number of skinners and tanners in the town.
The Industrial Revolution began in Wrexham in 1762 when the entrepreneur
John Wilkinson (1728–1808), known as "Iron Mad Wilkinson", opened
Bersham Ironworks
Bersham Ironworks were large ironworks at Bersham, near Wrexham, Wales. They are most famous for being the original working site of John Wilkinson. They were also the first site in the world to use a new way of boring holes in cannon and stea ...
. Wilkinson's steam engines enabled a peak of production at
Minera Lead Mines
The Minera Lead Mines were a mining operation and are now a country park and tourist centre in the village of Minera near Wrexham, in Wrexham County Borough, Wales.
History
The first written record of lead mining at Minera dates back to 1296 ...
on the outskirts of Wrexham.
From the late 18th century numerous large-scale industrialised collieries operated in the southern section of the
North East Wales coalfield, alongside hundreds of more traditional small-scale pits belonging to a mining tradition dating back to the Middle Ages.
![WXM-SDSC0053](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/WXM-SDSC0053.jpg)
18th century literary visitors included
Samuel Johnson, who described Wrexham as "a busy, extensive and well-built town", and
Daniel Defoe who noted the role of Wrexham as a "great market for Welch flannel". The artist
J. M. W. Turner also visited the town in 1792-93 and 1794 which resulted in his drawings of St Giles Parish Church and surrounding buildings and a watercolour painting of a street scene.
Rev.
William Bingley described Wrexham in 1839 as "of such size and consequence as to have occasionally obtained the appellation of the metropolis of North Wales". Wrexham gained its first newspaper in 1848. The Market Hall was built in 1848, and in 1863 a volunteer fire brigade was founded. In addition to brewing, tanning became one of Wrexham's main industries. In the mid 19th century Wrexham was granted
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
status.
![Wrexham Butchers Market 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Wrexham_Butchers_Market_2017.jpg)
By 1851, the population of Wrexham was 6,714; within thirty years this had increased to 10,978 as the town became increasingly industrialised.
Wrexham benefited from good underground water supplies which were essential to the brewing of beer: by the mid-19th century, there were 19 breweries in and around the town.
Wrexham Lager brewery was established in 1882 in Central Road and became the first brewery in the United Kingdom to produce lager beer. A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of
Hightown Barracks in 1877. The
Poyser Street drill hall was completed in 1902.
When the 1912
National Eisteddfod of Wales was held at Wrexham,
T.H. Parry-Williams achieved for the first time the feat, almost unheard of since, of winning both
the Chair and
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
. Parry-Williams later recalled returning home to
Rhyd-ddu, where had been working as a hired hand upon the farm of a relative. Upon telling his employer of his double-victory, Parry-Williams was advised to, "seek grace." When Parry-Williams then explained that both victories had gained him £40, the relative shouted in angry disbelief, ''"Ac mi gwnest nhw i gyd ar dy din!!!"'' ("And you earned them all sitting on your arse!!!!")
By 1913, the North East Wales coal field was producing up to 3 million tonnes a year and employed over 10,000 people, dominating the economic and cultural life of the area. One of the worst mining disasters in British history occurred at
Gresford Colliery in 1934 when underground explosions and a subsequent fire cost the lives of 266 men. However the industry went into decline after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and of the seven large-scale collieries operating in the Wrexham area in 1946, only two functional collieries remained by 1968. The last pit to close in the Borough was Bersham Colliery in 1986.The leatherworks in Pentrefelin and Tuttle Street, the many coal mines in the area, the brickworks in Abenbury,
Brymbo Steelworks
The Brymbo Steel Works was a former large steelworks in the village of Brymbo near Wrexham, Wales. In operation between 1796 and 1990, it was significant on account of its founder, one of whose original blast furnace stacks remains on the site ...
and the breweries all closed in the latter half of the 20th century. Wrexham suffered from the same problems as much of industrialised Britain and saw little investment in the 1970s.
![Bersham Colliery 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Bersham_Colliery_2015.jpg)
In the 1980s and 1990s, the
Welsh Development Agency
Welsh Development Agency (WDA; cy, Awdurdod Datblygu Cymru) was an executive agency (or QUANGO) and later designated an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB). Established in 1976, it was tasked with rescuing the ailing Welsh economy by encour ...
(WDA) funded a major dual carriageway (the A483) bypassing Wrexham town centre and connecting it with nearby Chester and with England's trunk road network. New shopping areas have been created within the town at Henblas Square, Island Green and Eagles Meadow and the
Wrexham Industrial Estate, previously used in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, has become home to many manufacturing businesses.
Wrexham Town Hall, an early 18th century arcaded structure with an assembly hall on the first floor, which had been built at the top of Town Hall, was demolished to improve traffic flows in the area in February 1940.
Wrexham's former police station on Regent Street, originally the barracks for the Royal Denbighshire Militia, is now home to
Wrexham County Borough Museum. The museum has two galleries devoted to the history of the city and its surrounding communities. The museum also holds the archive of the
Royal Welch Fusiliers
The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...
; battalions were stationed in Wrexham during the First World War. The collection is notable for containing original documents in the handwriting of
Siegfried Sassoon,
Robert Graves,
J. C. Dunn and other notable members of the RWF, as well as official records.
Governance
Wrexham County Borough Council is made up of 56 Councillors, with one then appointed to serve as
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
for a year. The
most recent election to the council was on 5 May 2022, the election resulted in a
Independent Group–
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
coalition, as well as
various ward changes and an the addition of 4 new councillor seats from the 2022 election. The main contiguous part of the city of Wrexham, east of the
A483
The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry and W ...
dual carriageway, is divided into the
communities of
Acton,
Rhosddu
Rhosddu () is a suburb and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, covering the north-western parts of the city of Wrexham and comprises the wards of Grosvenor, Garden Village and Stansty.
At the 2011 Census, the population of the communit ...
,
Offa and
Caia Park
Caia Park () is a suburb and community in Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Created in 1985 after a boundary commission review of the four community areas within the city, of which, Caia Park occupies its east, with the others being Acton, ...
. Although other definitions of the city, may consider Wrexham to extend westwards into other communities such as
Gwersyllt and
New Broughton which are part of Wrexham's built-up area.
The Wrexham
constituency elects members to the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
and the
Senedd. The
constituency includes both the city and some of its outlying villages such as Gwersyllt,
Llay,
Marford,
Rossett
Rossett ( cy, Yr Orsedd ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Rossett is served by the A483 road.
At the time of the 2001 census, Rossett community (including Rossett itself and the villages of Bur ...
and
Holt. The
UK Parliament constituency of Wrexham was considered a
safe seat for the
Labour Party until 2019. At the
2019 general election, Wrexham elected
Sarah Atherton MP to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
, the first
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Member of Parliament for the constituency.
Lesley Griffiths MS,
Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...
, has represented the Wrexham constituency in the Senedd since 2007 and has held a number of cabinet positions in the
Welsh Government.
Public services
Wrexham Maelor Hospital
The Wrexham Maelor Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Maelor Wrecsam) is a district general hospital for the north east region of Wales. It is managed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
History
The hospital has its origins in the Wrexham Union Workho ...
( cy, Ysbyty Maelor Wrecsam, links=no) is the region's major acute district hospital, with over 900 beds, and is the largest of the three core hospitals in
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
. The
other NHS hospital within the county borough is
Chirk Community Hospital and a former
Penley Polish Hospital.
Yale Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Iâl, links=no), situated close to the Maelor Hospital on the Wrexham Technology Park, is Wrexham's largest private hospital with over 25 beds. Formerly ''BUPA Yale Hospital'', it is now owned and operated by Spire Healthcare.
Wrexham is served by
North Wales Police; their Eastern Division HQ has a large HQ building in Llay and a police station in the city centre.
The region's main
fire station
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...
is situated on Croesnewydd Road and is part of the newly combined Ambulance Service station. Other local fire stations are located in the nearby towns of
Chirk and
Llangollen
Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...
.
City status
Wrexham has applied for city status three times since the turn of the 21st century, in competitions to mark the new Millennium, and for both the Queen's
Golden and
Diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
Jubilees. In March 2012, it was announced that Wrexham had again missed out on city status as the community of
St Asaph
St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...
, which was previously a city, was granted city status. In 2021, the Wrexham council announced their intention to apply for a fourth time for the Queen's
Platinum Jubilee
A platinum jubilee is a celebration held to mark an anniversary. Among monarchies, it usually refers to a 70th anniversary.
The most recent monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee is Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other C ...
award
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An awar ...
.
On 20 May 2022, it was announced that as part of the
Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours
As part of the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II awarded a number of civic honours, most notably the creation of new cities in a competition. Another competition for lord mayor or lord provost status was held.
It was announced on 8 June 202 ...
, Wrexham would receive
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
. The status was confirmed by
Letters Patent on 1 September 2022.
It became
Wales' seventh city.
Geography
![WrexhamBuiltUpArea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/WrexhamBuiltUpArea.png)
Wrexham is not built on a major river, but on a relatively flat plateau between the lower
Dee Valley and
easternmost mountains of
north-east Wales. This position enabled it to grow as a market town, as a crossroads between England and Wales, and later as an industrial hub – due to its rich natural reserves of iron ore and coal. But three small rivers flow through parts of the city: the
Clywedog, Gwenfro and
Alyn. Wrexham is also famed for the quality of its underground water reserves,
which gave rise to its previous dominance as a major brewing centre.
Originally a market town with surrounding urban villages, Wrexham has now coalesced with a number of urban villages and forms North Wales' largest conurbation and city, including its western and south western suburban villages. The conurbation including Wrexham,
Rhosllannerchrugog,
Coedpoeth and Llay built-up areas totals over 100,000 residents. The
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for t ...
defines a Wrexham Built-Up Area (Pop. 65,592 in 2011) making it the 134th largest built up area in the UK, and the fourth largest in Wales. Wrexham is home to approximately 40% of the total population of the county borough.
Wrexham is approximately south of Chester, north-west of
Shrewsbury, south-west of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, and north of
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
.
Landmarks and attractions
City centre
![Wrexhamtown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Wrexhamtown.jpg)
The historic city centre contains a large number of listed buildings set on a Medieval street pattern radiating out from the Parish Church of St Giles which was the focal point around which the city developed. The church precinct, and the surrounding narrow enclosed streets and alleyways retain a medieval character. Several complete medieval buildings survive on Town Hill and Church Street.
Hope Street, Regent Street and Queen Street form the traditional main shopping streets and are wider in some parts than others, resulting from the location of the street markets, which occurred from Medieval times through to the 19th century.
The shopping streets and indoor markets are interconnected by historic narrow alleyways and arcades, such as Bank Street and Central Arcade, which host small independent businesses. The half-timbered Talbot Hotel building, built in 1904, stands in a prominent position at the junction of Hope Street and Queen Street. The Horse and Jockey Public House, was probably originally built in the 16th century as a hall-house and retains its thatched roof.
High Street is notable for its grand 18th and 19th century properties of varying scale, colour and detail which were built on long, narrow
burgage plots probably of medieval origin.
The 18th century façade of the Wynnstay Hotel on Yorke Street closes the vista down the High Street. The hotel is notable as the birthplace of the Football Association of Wales, which was formed at a meeting in the hotel in 1876. The Golden Lion Pub on the High Street is of 16th century origin
and became an inn c.1700.
The listed Border Brewery chimney towers over Tuttle Street and forms a local landmark in the city centre.
File:Wrexham High Street, Wales (2).jpg, Wrexham High Street
File:Wrexham Overton Arcade.jpg, Overton Arcade
File:Wrexham General Market.jpg, General Market
File:Wrexham Central Arcade.jpg, Central Arcade
File:Wrexham Butchers Market.jpg, Butchers' Market
File:Wrexham High Street, Wales.jpg, Wrexham High Street
Attractions
Wrexham held the National Eisteddfod of Wales for the sixth time in 2011.
A number of visitor attractions can be found in the area.
*
Focus Wales – An annual multi-venue festival that takes place in the Wrexham city centre with a focus on emerging talent and the Welsh language.
*
St. Giles Church – One of the
Seven Wonders of Wales and burial place of
Elihu Yale
Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, he only lived in America as a child, spending the rest of his life in England, Wales and India ...
*
Racecourse Ground – Home of
Wrexham F.C.
Wrexham Association Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Wrecsam) is a Welsh professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. For ...
The world's oldest international stadium that still continues to host international games.
*
Erddig Hall
Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ac ...
– A
National Trust property.
*
Xplore! – Science discovery centre.
*
Wrexham County Borough Museum – A museum showcasing local history.
* Indoor Markets – Wrexham has always been historically known as a market town and continues this tradition with two architecturally significant Victorian indoor markets (Butchers and General).
*
Wales Comic Con – Founded and first held in Wrexham on a university campus in 2008, the event moved to Telford in 2019, but returned for a one-day event in 2022.
Venues and centres
![The Horse & Jockey, Wrexham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/The_Horse_%26_Jockey%2C_Wrexham.JPG)
Wrexham has a number of historic city centre buildings, many of which are pubs but others have been converted into arts or community centres.
* The Horse & Jockey pub on Hope Street
* The Golden Lion on High Street
* The Old Swan on Abbott Street.
* The Wynstay Arms Hotel on High Street –
FAW was formed at the hotel on 2 February 1876.
*
Tŷ Pawb
Tŷ Pawb (; ) is a multi-purpose centre in Wrexham, Wales. It serves as a venue for arts, cultural and community events, as well as being a market, art gallery and museum. A redevelopment of the former Wrexham People's Market ()) prior to its ...
– A cultural community resource that brings together markets, arts and a food court.
* Saith Seren ("Seven Stars") – A former public house, which is now the Wrexham Welsh Centre. The venue is a bilingual community centre but retains its facilities as a pub with local food, a bar, live entertainment, community meeting facilities.
Economy
Wrexham's economy has moved away from heavy industry to high tech manufacturing, bio-technology, finance and professional services. The city also has the largest retail sector in
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
.
In 2007, the then town was ranked fifth in the UK for business start-up success, higher than most larger UK towns and cities. In 2020, it was ranked second, behind only Mulbarton.
Shopping
![Eagles Meadow - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Eagles_Meadow_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2078180.jpg)
There are several shopping streets including Hope Street with major retailers such as
New Look,
WHSmith
WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...
and
Claire's and Bank street with independent businesses. Plas Coch and Berse retail parks are on the outskirts close to the A483. Central and Island Green retail parks are in the city centre.
Eagles Meadow is a shopping and leisure development in the city, and contains shops such as
M&S,
Boots
A boot is a type of footwear.
Boot or Boots may also refer to:
Businesses
* Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England
* Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom
* The Boot, Cromer St ...
, and an
Odeon Cinema
Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...
, the development is connected to Yorke Street and High Street by a bridge. There are two traditional covered markets (General and Butchers) plus an open-air market on Mondays.
Wrexham has a Shopmobility service which is free. Much of the Wrexham city centre is pedestrianised.
Finance and professional services
Wrexham is home to
DTCC, which collates and analyses company information for investment banks and financial organisations.
Moneypenny is the UK's largest outsourced switchboard and personal assistant service. Following expansion to the US and New Zealand, they built a new global headquarters at the Western Gateway site at a cost of £15 million including a treehouse meeting room, its own village pub and a sun terrace.
The
Development Bank of Wales signed a lease for its new headquarters in Wrexham based on the Wrexham Technology Park, which is expected to accommodate 50 jobs.
Chetwood Financial is a fintech lender that acquired a full banking licence in 2018, the only new retail bank to secure a licence in 2018.
Industries
Wrexham Industrial Estate is one of the largest industrial areas in Europe and is home to over 340 businesses creating employment for over 10,000 people. The estate currently extends to over 550 hectares and is home to major manufacturing businesses in a range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, food, pharmaceutical and engineering.
Wrexham Industrial Estate is home to a number of biopharmaceutical companies such as
Wockhardt
Wockhardt is a global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It produces formulations, biopharmaceuticals, nutrition products, vaccines and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
History
Wockhardt was foun ...
and
Ipsen which have major sites which provide research and development and manufacturing capabilities. The Industrial estate also hosts a 2,100 capacity Category C male prison, costing £212 million, which was built on the former Firestone Site. The prison opened in March 2017, and was named in February 2016 as
HM Prison Berwyn.
Wrexham's close location to both aerospace (Airbus are located in nearby
Broughton) and automotive manufacturers have led to a number of organisations being in the city.
JCB on the Wrexham Industrial Estate, ACT and Magellan Aerospace are all major employers in the area.
Large food manufacturing sites include
Kelloggs,
Cadbury,
Rowan Foods and
Village Bakery. Electronics companies
Sharp and
Brother have manufacturing facilities located along the
A483
The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry and W ...
.
One of Wrexham's traditional industries is
brewing. Wrexham was once home to
Marstons,
Border Breweries and Wrexham Lager. Wrexham is still a brewing town, however, on a smaller scale, many are either located on Wrexham Industrial Estate and in the city centre, this includes Big Hand, Magic Dragon, Erddig, Sandstone, Axiom and the revival of
Wrexham Lager Beer.
Residential development
The central area of Wrexham has also seen a number of purpose-built residential developments as well as conversions of older buildings to residential use. Outside the city centre new estates are being developed in several areas, including over 500 homes at the former Brymbo Steelworks site, a ribbon of development on Mold Road leading out of the city (which includes four development companies) and Ruthin Road (Wrexham Western Gateway). There are further plans. These include the development of
National Trust (NT) land at
Erddig for over 250 homes. This latter proposal generated many protests, particularly from residents of nearby Rhostyllen. A motion at the NT's 2008 AGM to block the development gained much support but was overturned by proxy votes cast by the chairman.
Demography
According to the 2011 census, the average percentage of Welsh speakers (aged 3+) in the electoral divisions that make up the city of Wrexham was 11.01% compared to the Wales average of 19.0%. The average percentage of Welsh speakers for Wrexham County Borough Council was 12.9%, the highest proportion being in the rural Dyffryn Ceiriog division (31.2%) and the lowest in the urban Wynnstay division (7.7%).
In January 2015, it was estimated more than 2,000
Portuguese migrants live and work in the city. The community is mainly centred in the district of
Hightown, and the community hold an annual carnival through the city centre.
A
Polish community exists in the city with a number of Polish supermarkets and restaurants in the city centre.
In July 2019 Alyn Family Doctors, a GP practice, made a formal objection to proposals to build 300 homes in Llay and Rossett, saying "We are already overstretched and cannot cope, and any other developments in our area are unmanageable."
Culture
In 2021–22, Wrexham County Borough's bid made it to the
final four bids of twenty for the title of
UK City of Culture in 2025. It later lost to
Bradford in May 2022.
Performing arts
![The-arc-sculpture-wrexham-1b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/The-arc-sculpture-wrexham-1b.jpg)
A company of actors (anterliwtwyr) from Wrexham is recorded as appearing in Shrewsbury in Henry VIII's reign.
The then town is referenced in the late-Jacobean
Beaumont and Fletcher play, 'The pilgrim' (1647), in which the stock Welshman declares that "Pendragon was a shentleman, marg you, Sir, and the organs at Rixum were made by revelations".
Wrexham hosted the
National Eisteddfod in 1888, 1912, 1933 and 1977, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1876. The National Eisteddfod returned to the area in 2011, when Wales' leading festival was held on the land of Lower Berse Farm between 30 July and 6 August.
Wrexham has a number of theatres, including the Grove Park Theatre on Vicarage Hill and the Yale Studio theatre close to Llwyn Isaf, with others at
Glyndŵr University
Glyndŵr was one of six local government districts in the county of Clwyd in Wales from 1974 to 1996.
History
The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of six former districts and two ...
on Mold Road and at Coleg Cambria. There is a multi-screen Odeon cinema in the Eagles Meadow development.
Visual arts
Tŷ Pawb (formally Oriel Wrecsam and the People's Market) is Wrexham's largest facility for visual arts and exhibitions, and offers other resources including an indoor market, food court and performance spaces. Tŷ Pawb is Welsh for "Everybody's House" and the name was selected by public vote in 2017. Tŷ Pawb was the lead organisation for Wales in the Venice Biennale 2019.
Other galleries in Wrexham include Undegun Arts Space on Regent Street and The Wrexham Independent Gallery (TWIG) on Lord Street.
Wrexham's School of Creative Arts (part of
Wrexham Glyndŵr University and formally known as North Wales School of Art and Design or NWSAD) is based on Regent Street.
Music
Live music venues have developed around the core of the city. Further out of the centre other venues provide live music shows. The scene is dominated by local bands and the city has become known for the rock, indie and alternative genres.
Central Station opened in 1999, the venue had a capacity of approximately 650, attracting a number of international acts. Shortly after its rebrand to Live Rooms Wrexham, it was found to be under financial pressures and closed on 9 February 2019, the year that marked its 20th anniversary.
William Aston Hall at Glyndŵr University is a 900-seat venue designed to accommodate a range of events from conferences and exhibitions to theatrical performances, comedy shows and pop/rock concerts. Acts who have performed there include
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciar ...
,
Feeder,
Love,
Ray Davies
Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...
,
Freddie Starr
Freddie Starr (born Frederick Leslie Fowell; 9 January 1943 – 9 May 2019) was an English stand up comedian, impressionist, singer and actor. Starr was the lead singer of Merseybeat rock and roll group the Midniters during the early 1960s, an ...
and
Sweet
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...
. The Wrexham Symphony Orchestra has been the orchestra in residence at William Aston Hall since 2004.
In 2016 the Racecourse Ground re-introduced live music to its summer schedule, the Welsh band
Stereophonics were the first musicians to play a live show since the festival with
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
in 1982. After the success of Stereophonics with special guests
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British indie rock band from Wales. The band's debut album, ''The Balcony'', reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart and achieved Platinum status on 30 December 2016. The band have toured in South America, Jap ...
came 2017 with live music from
UB 40 and
Olly Murs
Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom ...
. In June 2018 the Stereophonics returned to the Racecourse Ground alongside special guest
Jake Bugg
Jake Bugg (born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy on 28 February 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. His self-titled debut album, '' Jake Bugg'', some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 2012 and reached num ...
. In June 2021,
Lionel Richie and
Jess Glynne
Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, bo ...
will be headlining shows at the Racecourse Ground
FOCUS Wales is a festival that began in 2010 to showcase musicians from Wales and around the world using venues across the city. FOCUS Wales includes interactive sessions and celebrates the arts of the region and beyond.
Media
Wrexham's newspapers include two daily titles, Reach PLC's ''
Daily Post (North Wales)'' run from Colwyn Bay, and Newsquest's ''
The Leader'' (formerly ''Wrexham Evening Leader'') run from Mold with a circulation of just 3,825 for the Wrexham edition.
Two commercial radio stations broadcast from the Wrexham area –
Communicorp
Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group
Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia ...
station
Heart North and Mid Wales and
Global Radio-owned
Capital North West and Wales
Capital North West and Wales is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cheshire, the Wirral Peninsula & North Wales. The station broadcasts from its studios in Gwersyllt, Wrexha ...
broadcast from studios in Gwersyllt. A third station,
Capital Cymru
Capital Cymru is a local Welsh-language radio station owned and operated by Global. The station broadcasts to Gwynedd and Anglesey from studios in Gwersyllt, Wrexham via the Arfon transmitting station.
Previously, the station formed part of th ...
(serving Anglesey and Gwynedd) also broadcasts from Gwersyllt.
BBC Cymru Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is b ...
has a studio and newsroom for radio, television and online services based at Glyndŵr University on Mold Road. From March 2008 to January 2021, the university was also the base for
Calon FM
Calon FM is a community radio station serving Wrexham and surrounding areas.
The station is owned and operated by Wrexham Community Broadcasting and broadcasts from studios at the Wrexham Enterprise Hub in the city centre with its transmitter at ...
, a community radio station serving the county borough.
An online news website covering the Wrexham area, ''Wrexham.com'', operates from offices in Regent Street in the city centre since 2012.
Parks and open spaces
![Acton Park lake, Wrexham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Acton_Park_lake%2C_Wrexham.jpg)
A total of 37 parks and green spaces in Wrexham County Borough Council ownership have been, or are in the process of being, legally protected with green space charity
Fields in Trust ensuring they can never be built on, nor lost to development.
Wrexham has three parks,
Bellevue Park,
Acton Park and the parkland at Erddig, as well as a green area within the city centre called
Llwyn Isaf.
Bellevue Park was built alongside the old cemetery on Ruabon Road. The park was designed to commemorate the jubilee year of the incorporation of Wrexham. It became neglected during the 1970s and many of the amenities were in a poor state of repair. A major project was undertaken to restore the park to its original state. The park reopened in June 2000. In 2015 Belle Vue Park was dedicated as a Fields in Trust Centenary Field because of its links with veterans of two world wars.
Acton Park was originally the landscaped grounds of
Acton Hall
Acton ( cy, Gwaunyterfyn) is a suburb and community in Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It spans the north-eastern part of Wrexham. The area is largely residential and at its centre, lies Acton Park ( cy, Parc Gwaunyterfyn / Parc Acton ...
. It was laid out in 1785 by
James Wyatt
James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806.
Early life
W ...
on the instructions of the owner
Sir Foster Cunliffe.
Llwyn Isaf, situated alongside Wrexham Guildhall, is a popular green area within the city centre. The green was originally the landscaped grounds of a mansion house known as Llwyn Isaf. It now lies at the centre of Wrexham's civic centre just off Queens Square. The Welsh
Children in Need concert was held here in 2005, which included
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
and Katherine Jenkins.
Erddig Park is two miles (3 km) south of the city centre where the city meets the Clywedog Valley. The park is owned and managed by the
National Trust, and is home to Erddig Hall and its formal gardens.
Sport
Football
![Wrexham FC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Wrexham_FC.jpg)
The city has a professional association football, football team, Wrexham A.F.C., the oldest football club in Wales. Their home ground is the Racecourse Ground, the oldest international football ground in the world.
Wrexham was the site of the headquarters of the Football Association of Wales from its formation in 1876 until relocation to Cardiff in 1991.
Colliers Park has received a substantial investment to improve the facility, which was financed by FAW Wales and now recognised as a National Development Centre, complementing their existing facility in Newport, Wales, Newport.
On 16 November 2020, it was confirmed that actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, through the RR McReynolds Company LLC, would be taking over the club after receiving the backing of the Wrexham Supporters Trust.
Rugby League
Until the end of 2016 the Racecourse stadium was home to the North Wales Crusaders who currently play in League 1 (rugby league), League 1 – Rugby Football League Championship Third Division, the third division of the sport in Britain. In 2011 North Wales were created following the folding of the Super League club Crusaders Rugby League, Crusaders RL. The team later moved to the Queensway Stadium in Caia Park, before moving to Colwyn Bay in 2021.
Rugby Union
The Racecourse Ground has in the past also served as the secondary home of the Scarlets, one of the four Welsh professional rugby union sides that compete in the Pro14. The Wales rugby union team have also played there on occasion. Wrexham is also home to rugby union team Wrexham RFC, a team affiliated to the Welsh Rugby Union. In 1931 nine northern Welsh clubs met at Wrexham to form the North Wales Rugby Union, Wrexham RFC were one of the founders. Rhos Rugby Club, one of Wrexham RFC's main rivals are also based just outside the city in the village of Rhosllanerchrugog. Rhos now have grown to match Wrexham's quality, making the rivalry even more intense than in previous years.
Other sports
* Athletics (sport), Athletics – Queensway International Athletics stadium in Caia Park is Wrexham's second stadium after the Racecourse and has hosted the Welsh Open Athletics event in recent years. The stadium is also home to North Wales' largest athletics club, Wrexham Amateur Athletics Club. From 2017 it is home to rugby league side North Wales Crusaders.
* Field hockey, Hockey – Plas Coch is home to the North Wales Regional Hockey Stadium, home of Wrexham Glyndwr HC, with seating for 200 spectators and floodlighting.
* Leisure centres – Wrexham has 7 leisure centres: Chirk, Clywedog, Darland, Gwyn Evans(Gwersyllt), Plas Madoc, Queensway and Waterworld, which offer activities including swimming, aerobics, climbing walls and yoga.
* Tennis – Wrexham is home to the North Wales Regional Tennis Centre, which plays host to a number of international competitions each year including the Challenger Series. The centre is a pay and play facility and is open 7 days a week to all members of the public. The centre is also home to the WLTA (Wrexham Lawn Tennis Association).
* Golf – Wrexham has 4 golf courses: Moss Valley Golf Club, Plassey Golf Club, Wrexham Golf Club and Clays Farm Golf Club.
Religion
Parish Church of St. Giles
![St Giles' Church, Wrexham (geograph 4885639 cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/St_Giles%27_Church%2C_Wrexham_%28geograph_4885639_cropped%29.jpg)
St. Giles is the Parish Church of Wrexham and is considered to be the greatest medieval church in Wales. It includes a colourful ceiling of flying musical angels, two early eagle lecterns, a window by the artist Edward Burne-Jones and the Royal Welch Fusiliers chapel. In the graveyard is the tomb of Elihu Yale who was the benefactor of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut, United States and after whom Yale College Wrexham is named. As a tribute to Yale and his resting place, a scaled-down replica of the church tower, known as Wrexham Tower was constructed at Yale University. The tower appears in an 18th-century rhyme, as one of the
Seven Wonders of Wales. In 2015, a first edition (1611) of the King James Bible (also known as the Authorized Version) was discovered in a cabinet by the Rector of the church.
St. Mary's Cathedral
The Roman Catholic Wrexham Cathedral, Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows in Regent Street is the main church of the Bishop of Wrexham, Diocese of Wrexham, which extends over all of North Wales. Built in 1857 after Catholic Emancipation and at the height of the Gothic Revival, the cathedral was home to the Bishop of Menevia from 1898 until 1987, whose diocese covered all of Wales. However, in 1987 the Roman Catholic province of Wales was reconstructed, since which time the cathedral has been home to the Bishop of Wrexham. The cathedral is also home to the relic of Saint Richard Gwyn, Wrexham's patron saint, who was a Roman Catholic martyr in the 16th century. Richard was hanged, drawn and quartered at Wrexham's Beast Market. He was canonised by
Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Other denominations
Wrexham has a number of Nonconformity in Wales, non-conformist chapels and churches around the city, including a corps of The Salvation Army. The main Methodist church is Wrexham Methodist church, built in 1971 on the site of the former Brynyfynnon Chapel on Regent.Street.
Wrexham had a church with a spire dedicated to and named after St. Mark in St. Mark's Road but it was demolished in 1960 after being declared unsafe and in danger of collapse due to inadequate foundations. A multi-storey car park named St. Mark's was erected on the site.
Education
Wrexham Glyndŵr University
Named after the 14th century scholar and last Welsh Prince of Wales,
Owain Glyndŵr, Wrexham Glyndŵr University was formed when the North East Wales Institute (NEWI) was granted full university status in 2008. It consists of Plas Coch campus in the western part of the city and the North Wales School of Art and Design located on Regent Street. The institution was founded in 1887 as the Wrexham School of Science and Art.
Glyndŵr remains an accredited institution of the University of Wales and offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Glyndŵr has approximately 8,000 full-time students and over 350 from outside the UK, although not all on the Wrexham campus.
Yale College (Coleg Cambria)
Yale College (now part of Coleg Cambria) is the main provider of adult education in Wrexham and is one of the largest colleges in Wales. As a tertiary college it also provides a wide range of higher education courses at its two campuses at Grove Park in the city centre and Bersham Road in southwest Wrexham.
It was named after Elihu Yale, best known for being the prime benefactor of Yale University. It was founded in 1950 as a state school on a site at Crispin Lane. In 1973, as part of the conversion of local schools to the comprehensive system, it was renamed as Yale Sixth Form College and the pupils re-located to other schools. The Crispin Lane site was incorporated into NEWI (now Glyndŵr University) after the development of the Grove Park Campus.
In 1998 Yale College took up residence in two sites across Wrexham: the faculty of engineering and construction at a site on Bersham Road, and a multi-purpose site in a redeveloped Grove Park campus. Over the next fifteen years the college grew.
In 2013 Yale College was merged with Deeside College, Northop College, and Llysfasi College to form a new college, Coleg Cambria, under the leadership of the ex-Deeside principal David Jones. The merger officially took place on 1 August 2013.
For the 2020–21 academic year, one of Coleg Cambria's Yale Grove Park Campus in Wrexham city centre, under went redevelopment. With a cost of £20 million, the new Hafod building is described to be a "commercial village" in Wrexham.
Schools
Wrexham has a number of primary and secondary schools. It has just one Welsh-speaking secondary school, Ysgol Morgan Llwyd. In 2003, three of the largest secondary schools, St David's School, Ysgol Bryn Offa and The Groves High School were merged to create two larger "super schools", Rhosnesni High School, and Ysgol Clywedog. Other large secondary schools Darland High School and Ysgol Bryn Alyn, were both built in 1958. Wrexham has become home to the first shared-faith school in Wales, St Joseph's Catholic and Anglican High School, Wrexham, St Joseph's.
There are seven Welsh medium education, Welsh medium primary schools in Wrexham County Borough, two of which are located in Wrexham city (Ysgol Bodhyfryd CP and Ysgol Plas Coch CP). Ysgol Morgan Llwyd serves as the single Welsh medium secondary school for the county and is located in Wrexham.
Twin municipalities
* Iserlohn (Märkischer Kreis), Germany
* Racibórz, Poland
The city of Wrexham is twinned with the German district of Märkischer Kreis and the Polish town of Racibórz.
The first twinning was established on 17 March 1970 between the former Kreis Iserlohn and Wrexham Rural District. Its early success ensured that, after local government reorganisation in both countries in the mid-seventies, the twinning was taken over by the new Councils of Märkischer Kreis and Wrexham Maelor Borough Council and, in 1996, by Wrexham County Borough Council.
In 2001 Märkischer Kreis entered a twinning arrangement with Racibórz (Ratibor), a county in Poland, which was formerly part of Silesia, Germany. In September 2002, a delegation from Racibórz visited Wrexham and began initial discussions about possible co-operation which led, eventually, to the signing of Articles of Twinning between Wrexham and Racibórz in March 2004. The Wrexham area has strong historical links with Poland. Following World War II, many service personnel from the Free Polish armed forces who had been injured received treatment at Penley Polish Hospital. Many of their descendants remain in the area to this day.
Transport
Rail
![Wrexham General station building (geograph 4023924)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Wrexham_General_station_building_%28geograph_4023924%29.jpg)
Wrexham has two railway stations, Wrexham General railway station, Wrexham General and Wrexham Central railway station, Wrexham Central, with Gwersyllt railway station, Gwersyllt located in the city's western suburbs. Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central – Bidston service, was a separate station, Wrexham Exchange. There were plans for two new railway stations named after but located outside the then town in 2017: Wrexham North railway station, Wrexham North and Wrexham South railway station, Wrexham South.
;Wrexham General
Wrexham General was opened in 1846, rebuilt in 1912 and again in 1997. It has six platforms (four through, two terminal). Wrexham General is on two different lines, the Shrewsbury to Chester Line and the Borderlands Line, both of which are run by Transport for Wales Rail, Transport for Wales.
Wrexham General was also the base for the former train operating company Wrexham & Shropshire (the operating name of the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company). The company-provided passenger train services from Wrexham via Shropshire to Marylebone station, London Marylebone on an open-access basis. Services started in 2008, with an agreement for a seven-year period. Wrexham & Shropshire began running services on 28 April 2008. Having decided they could not make the business profitable, the company ended services on 28 January 2011.
All services that operate from Wrexham Central to Bidston also run through this station.
A token Avanti West Coast service runs via Chester railway station, Chester and Crewe railway station, Crewe to London Euston railway station, London Euston, whereas Transport for Wales operate a few direct services every weekday to .
;Wrexham Central
Wrexham Central, which is located on the Island Green retail park, is a small terminus station which is the southern terminus of the Wrexham to Bidston in Birkenhead Borderlands Line. Until the 1998 construction of the Island Green retail park, Wrexham Central station was located 50 metres further along the track.
;Gwersyllt
is an unmanned halt which serves the Gwersyllt suburb of Wrexham. It is a stop on the Borderlands line between Wrexham General and Bidston.
Bus
![FourWrexhamBlueBirds](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/FourWrexhamBlueBirds.jpg)
Most buses are low-floor and with slightly elevated bus stops to allow easy access. A Wrexham bus station, bus terminal, the largest in north Wales, has been built in Wrexham, with a staffed information booth. The bus station serves local, regional and long-distance bus services. It is served by various bus companies, including Arriva Buses Wales and Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach. Long-distance coaches are available to Edinburgh via
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Bradford and Leeds and to London via Telford and Birmingham. The Wrexham Shuttle provides a link between Wrexham and the nearby industrial estate. The townlink bus connects the main bus station with Eagles Meadow shopping centre and Border retail park to the east and Wrexham General and Central stations with Plas Coch, Wrexham Central and Island Green shopping centres to the south and west of the city. Wrexham is served by the National Express coach network, which picks up from the Wrexham bus station. Wrexham use the distinctive yellow American Blue Bird Corp., Bluebird school buses.
Roads
![130711 Wrexham sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/130711_Wrexham_sign.JPG)
The city centre is orbited by a ring road. The northern and eastern parts of the road are dualled between Rhosddu Road roundabout and Eagles Meadow. The
A483
The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry and W ...
is Wrexham's principal route. It skirts the western edge of the city, dividing it from the urban villages to the west. The road has connections with major roads (A55 road, A55(M53 motorway, M53), A5 road (Great Britain), A5(M54 motorway, M54)). The A5156 road (Great Britain), A5156 leads to the A534 and on to the Wrexham Industrial Estate. The A541 road is the main route into Wrexham from Mold and the city's western urban area. It connects to the B5101 road which eventually leads to the A5104 road to the east of Treuddyn in Flintshire.
Future development
Wrexham Council say they plan to carry out widespread works in the city centre over the next few years.
There have been works carried out to Regent Street, Hope Street, Queen's Square, and Wrexham Bus Station, involving introduction of amenities and resurfacing.
A new tourist information centre including a shop selling local produce, a cafe and event space was to open in Autumn 2020.
Henblas Street, the site of the Techniquest re-location is currently re-developing a disused shopping area into a multi-purpose site including Sports Direct, eateries, housing and independent retail.
The Diocese of St Asaph is currently in the process of refurbishing the old Burton's building to create a worship space, meeting rooms, office space, kitchen and hospitality areas and a base for social and community engagement.
The Crown Buildings are currently undergoing a refurbishment project to become a community health and wellbeing centre including integrated office accommodation, completion expected by December 2021.
The
Welsh Government has acquired key sites to form part of the Wrexham Gateway Project to redevelop the Kop stand at the Racecourse Ground and upgrade the transportation network to support the upgrade in the sport and event facility.
List of Notable People
*Jack Mary Ann – local folk hero who lived in the Top Boat House area of Broughton
*Chris Bartley (rower), Chris Bartley – Olympic silver medallist rower.
*William Davidson Bissett (1893–1971) – Scots-born Victoria Cross recipient. Cremated at Pentre Bychan.
*Hannah Blore – Byte Class; Women's World Champion, 2005, 2008
*David Bower – deaf actor who is best known for his role as David, the younger brother of Charles, in the comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral.
*Grahame Davies (1964– ) – poet
*C. H. Dodd, Charles Harold Dodd (1884–1973) – eminent New Testament scholar and influential Protestant theologian
*Percy Dodd, Percy William Dodd (1889–1931) – classics lecturer at the University of Leeds and captain in the West Yorkshire Regiment during the Great War
*A. H. Dodd, Arthur Herbert Dodd (1891–1975) – Wales, Welsh historian and professor of history at University of Wales, Bangor, University College, Bangor
*Dr Harold Drinkwater (1855–1925) – physician noted as a botanical artist
*Dr Thomas Eyton-Jones (1832–1893) – medical professional
*Rosemarie Frankland – Miss Wales 1961, first runner-up Miss Universe 1961, Miss United Kingdom 1961 and Miss World 1961.
*Amy Guy gladiator 'SIREN' on the TV show of the same name. Member of the British Team in horse riding. Miss Wales 2004 Miss World Sport 2004. Miss United Kingdom 2005.
*Saint Richard Gwyn – (1535–1584), Catholic martyr and Patron Saint of Wrexham
*Edwin Hughes (soldier), Edwin Hughes – ("Balaclava Ned") (1830–1927), the last survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava in the Crimea
*Mark Hughes – former Wales international footballer and subsequently manager of Wales and several clubs
*Dennis Taylor – ex-snooker World Champion, currently living in Llay.
*Tom James – Olympic Gold Medallist Rower.
*George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, George Jeffreys – (1645–1689), 'The Hanging Judge' of Acton Hall in
Acton
*Darren Jeffries – Hollyoaks actor
*Dewi Penrhyn Jones – professional cricketer for Glamorgan C.C.C.2014. Born in Wrexham 1994
*Ewart Jones, Professor Sir Ewart Ray Herbert Jones FRS – chemist, inventor of the Jones oxidation, Waynflete Professorship, Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University
*Joey Jones – former Wales international footballer
*Rob Jones (footballer, born 1971), Rob Jones – former footballer who played for Liverpool F.C.
*Jason Koumas – former Wales international footballer
*Charlie Landsborough – (born 1941), British country and folk musician and singer-songwriter
*Tom Lawrence – Wales international footballer
*David Lord (officer), David Lord – (1913–1944), Irish born holder of the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom), Distinguished Flying Cross
*Andrew Moore (rugby player), Andy Moore – Neath/Swansea Rugby Club & Wales International
*Seb Morris – (racing driver), Also appeared as the face of Jack Wills Autumn/Winter 2013 campaign
*Jonathon O'Dougherty – British National Ice Dance champion
* J.G. Parry-Thomas, John Godfrey Parry-Thomas – (1884–1927), engineer and racing driver
*Leigh Richmond Roose – former Wales international footballer
*Leonard Rowland (1862–1939), mayor of Wrexham
*Robbie Savage – former Wales international footballer
*Andy Scott (guitarist), Andy Scott – guitarist with 1970s glam rock band The Sweet
*Tim Vincent – former ''Blue Peter'' presenter and former ''Access Hollywood'' reporter.
*Robert Waithman – (1764–1833), born in Wrexham, became Lord Mayor of London in 1823
*John Wilkinson (industrialist), John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson – (1728–1808), son of Isaac, known for Bersham Ironworks in the city and producing cannons for the American civil war
*Llŷr Williams – Welsh pianist, received the Outstanding Young Artist Award from MIDEM Classique and the International Artist Managers' Association
*Mike Williams (journalist), Mike Williams – Welsh journalist, Editor in Chief of NME
*Neco Williams – Nottingham Forest and Wales footballer
*
Elihu Yale
Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, he only lived in America as a child, spending the rest of his life in England, Wales and India ...
– (1649–1721), businessman and benefactor of Yale University
*Philip Yorke (antiquary), Philip Yorke – (1743–1804), antiquarian and writer, squire of Erddig
*Thomas Penson – (c. 1790 – 1859), Welsh architect and county surveyor.
*Neck Deep – Welsh pop punk band formed in 2012
*Harry Wilson (footballer, born 1997), Harry Wilson – Fulham F.C., Fulham and Wales international footballer
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Wrexham,
Towns in Wrexham County Borough
Towns of the Welsh Marches
Market towns in Wales
The Lordship of Bromfield and Yale
Cities in Wales